Jeff Bobo

ROGERSVILLE — It took about an hour of deliberations Wednesday for a Hawkins County jury to find Elmer Herbert Simpson guilty on charges of possession of Schedule III narcotics with intent to deliver and maintaining a dwelling where controlled substances are kept or sold.

Simpson, 60, 153 Hoard Lane, Lot 56, Church Hill, was arrested in March of 2011 after attempting to sell Lortab pills he had stolen from his sister to two other individuals. The Hawkins County Sheriff’s Office said that following his arrest, Simpson gave them a statement admitting to the attempted sale. The two would-be buyers also admitted to the incident and testified against Simpson in Wednesday’s trial.

But Simpson testified Wednesday that prosecutor Alex Pearson’s two HCSO witnesses, as well as the two would-be buyers who also testified, were all liars. Simpson testified that he stole pills from his sister because he was in pain, intended to take them himself and never intended to sell them.

The jury reportedly spent most of the hour deliberating how much to fine Simpson. Had he accepted the plea agreement, his total fine would have been $2,500. But the jury levied a $12,500 fine against Simpson, who will receive his prison sentence this morning from Judge John Dugger. Simpson faces a maximum penalty of consecutive four year sentences, as opposed to a sentence of two years and one day that was offered as a plea agreement.

Simpson’s 2003 Dodge Ram pickup was also forfeited to the HCSO because it was used to transport pills.